The Middle East peace talks, which formally opened in Washington on
Thursday, have been given one year. It’s a tall order.

In 2006 when I visited the region I spent a brief time in the Kalandia
refugee camp. It was opened in 1949 and is under Israeli control. That
refugee camp is home to ten thousand Palestinian refugees who for 60
years have been dependent on emergency food aid and the provision of
services. Generations have grown up under occupation while living in
appalling conditions of poverty and deprivation.

Kalandia was opened the year after I was born. And in every decade since
that part of the world has been convulsed by one major war after another
leaving thousands dead and millions more, almost all of them
Palestinians, as refugees.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) estimates that there
are some 5 million Palestinian refugees in the region and this excludes
those who have moved further away to Europe, the USA and elsewhere.

The issues that this new process of negotiations will have to resolve to
achieve a durable peace settlement have been well rehearsed during many
failed previous efforts.

A viable Palestinian state; Israeli occupation of Palestinian land; the
siege of Gaza; the settlements; water rights; refugees; prisoners; the
Separation wall and Jerusalem.

One of the most immediate and pressing issues is that of the
settlements. Since the 1967 war when Israel occupied East Jerusalem and
the west Bank, the Israeli government has constructed some 100
settlements with a combined population of around 500,000 jews. These
settlements are illegal under international law.

Last November the Israeli government announced a moratorium on the
building of new settlements, although this did not include East
Jerusalem. The moratorium is scheduled to end in three weeks time on
September 26th. The Palestinians have warned that renewed construction
will bring an end to the negotiations while the Israeli Prime Minister
Netanyahu has said that his government will not extend the moratorium.

In addition Hamas and the people of the Gaza Strip are not represented
in the talks. Hamas has been excluded from the negotiations and is
opposed to the process. The killing of four Israeli settler’s near
Hebron on Tuesday was claimed by its organisation the Izz al-Din Qassam
Brigades.

Last year on a visit to the Gaza strip this blog met with senior Hamas
leaders, including Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. Since then other
Shinners have met representatives of Hamas, including Khaled Mashal, the
political leader of Hamas.

The Hamas leadership have told us that they want a peace agreement with
justice, stability, security and peace for Palestinians and Israelis. To
achieve this they are for a comprehensive ceasefire; the opening of
borders; a two state compromise and the establishment of a Palestinian
state with Jerusalem as its capital on the basis of the 1967 borders and
the establishment of a long Hudna (long truce) to facilitate this.

In our contribution to these conversations and in talks with the
|Palestinian Authority , PLO representatives and Palestinian activists
Sinn Fein representatives have stated our view that armed actions will
not bring a resolution to the conflict or advance the Palestinian cause.

Dialogue, involving substantive and inclusive negotiations, is the only
way forward.

All of the participants, including the Israeli government and Hamas,
need to create a context in which this can happen. There should be a
complete cessation of all hostilities and armed actions by all sides and
Hamas should be invited to participate in the current negotiations.

Not surprisingly the media and political commentary around the
commencement of this phase of negotiations has been down beat. In some
instances media reports are dismissing out of hand the possibility of
any agreement. It is always easier to predict failure than find evidence
of hope or progress.

It is true that when you look beyond the fine words and sentiments
expressed on Tuesday night in Washington at the opening press conference
that there are huge obstacles to achieving a breakthrough, not least of
which is the absence of Hamas.

However this blog believes that agreement is possible. Most citizens
living in Israel, and the West Bank and Gaza already know its broad
outline.

Achieving this will require courageous political leadership, a
willingness to take risks, initiatives and to make compromises. It means
Israeli and Palestinian leaders working as partners to defend the rights
and freedoms of each other.

The strategic interest of Israeli and Palestinian citizens is for peace.
A peace that encompasses the security, prosperity and stability of the
Israeli people and of the Palestinian people. That must be the goal of
these talks. We wish them well in their efforts.

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